Forgive me for my cynicism, but Rickey Jackson was ranked in the top 10 amongst NFL defensive players all-time when he finally retired for good in 1997 preseason and yet he still had to wait for a dozen years until his achievements and career success was finally acknowledged (Saints having a SB run in 2009 helped I'm sure). Sam Mills was one of the most dominant, well-liked, effective run-stopping MLB's during his career and yet it took over 20 years, nearly 15 years after his sad, tragically-early death in 2005 for him to be inducted.